See also:
U+8C93, 貓
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8C93

[U+8C92]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+8C94]

Translingual

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Japanese
Simplified
Traditional

Han character

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(Kangxi radical 153, +8, 15 strokes, cangjie input 月竹廿田 (BHTW), four-corner 44260, composition )

References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 1202, character 30
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36595
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1664, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3914, character 4
  • Unihan data for U+8C93

Chinese

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Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script
 

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *mreːw, *mrew) : semantic + phonetic (OC *mrew). The phonetic component perhaps points to the onomatopoeic nature of this word.

Ma Xulun suggested that was the original character of 貓.

Etymology 1

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trad. /
simp.
 
 /

Onomatopoeic. Compare (miāo, “meow, the onomatopoeic cry of a cat”).

Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs Old Chinese *mau, reasoning that 's place among division II syllables results from its onomatopoeic nature instead of an Old Chinese medial *-r-; onomatopoeia is also responsible for the 陰平阴平 (yīnpíng) tone instead of the expected 陽平阳平 (yángpíng).

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • mao1 - vernacular;
  • miao2 - literary.
Note: miu4, maau4 - rare.
Note:
  • mau4 - vernacular;
  • mieu4 - literary.
Note:
  • mê - vernacular;
  • miâu - literary.
Note:
  • mà - vernacular;
  • mièu - literary.
Note:
  • niau/ngiau - vernacular (“cat; pockmarked; stingy; lecherous”);
  • bâu - literary.
Note:
  • ngiao1 - Shantou, Jieyang;
  • ngiou1 - Chaozhou;
  • bha5 - vernacular.
    • (Leizhou)
      • Leizhou Pinyin: bha5 / niao7 / miao5
      • Sinological IPA: /ba²²/, /niau⁵⁵/, /miau²²/
Note:
  • bha5 - vernacular;
  • niao7 - vernacular (restricted, e.g. 貓貓 / 猫猫 (ba5 niao7));
  • miao5 - literary.
Note:
  • mau1 - vernacular;
  • miau1 - literary.

  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /mɑu⁵⁵/
Harbin /mau⁴⁴/
Tianjin /mɑu⁴⁵/
Jinan /mɔ⁴²/
/mɔ²¹³/ 瞧~兒
Qingdao /mɔ⁴²/
Zhengzhou /mau⁴²/
Xi'an /mau²⁴/
Xining /mɔ²⁴/
Yinchuan /mɔ⁵³/
Lanzhou /mɔ³¹/
Ürümqi /mɔ⁵¹/
Wuhan /mau⁵⁵/
Chengdu /mau⁵⁵/
Guiyang /mao⁵⁵/
Kunming /mɔ⁴⁴/
Nanjing /mɔo²⁴/
Hefei /mɔ²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /mau¹¹/
Pingyao /mɔ¹³/
Hohhot /mɔ³¹/
Wu Shanghai /mɔ²³/
/mɔ⁵³/
Suzhou /mæ¹³/
Hangzhou /mɔ²¹³/
Wenzhou /m̠uɔ³³/
Hui Shexian /mɔ³¹/
Tunxi /mən²⁴/
Xiang Changsha /miau³³/
/mau³³/
Xiangtan /maɯ³³/
Gan Nanchang /mɑu⁴⁵/
/miɛu⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /miau⁵³/
Taoyuan /meu⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /mau⁵⁵/
Nanning /mau⁵⁵/
/mɛu⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /mau⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /bau³⁵/
/niau⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ma⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /me³³/
/miau³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /ŋiãu³³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /va³¹/
/niau³⁵/
/niau²³/

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Initial () (4) (4)
Final () (92) (90)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () III II
Fanqie
Baxter mjew maew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/mˠiᴇu/ /mˠau/
Pan
Wuyun
/mᵚiɛu/ /mᵚau/
Shao
Rongfen
/miæu/ /mau/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/miaw/ /maɨw/
Li
Rong
/mjɛu/ /mau/
Wang
Li
/mĭɛu/ /mau/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/mi̯ɛu/ /mau/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
miáo máo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
miu4 maau4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
māo
Middle
Chinese
‹ maew ›
Old
Chinese
/*C.mˁraw/
English cat

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2
No. 9101 9109
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
2 2
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*mreːw/ /*mrew/

Definitions

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  1. cat (Classifier: m c)
  2. (Mandarin, colloquial) to hide oneself
  3. (Mandarin, colloquial) to hang around; to stay somewhere doing nothing
  4. (Cantonese) to get drunk
  5. (Hokkien) pockmarked (face)
    [Hokkien]  ―  niau-bīn [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pockmarked face
  6. (Xiamen, Quanzhou and Singapore Hokkien; Singapore Teochew) stingy; miserly
  7. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) lecherous; lascivious
  8. (Cantonese, non-productive) person with a non-positive attribute
    花面花面 [Cantonese]  ―  faa1 min6 maau1 [Jyutping]  ―  someone with a dirty face
    為食为食 [Cantonese]  ―  wai6 sik6 maau1 [Jyutping]  ―  gourmand
    [Cantonese]  ―  beng6 maau1 [Jyutping]  ―  someone who is ill or physically weak
Synonyms
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Descendants

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  • English: ngeow (via Teochew)

Compounds

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Etymology 2

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trad.
simp.
alternative forms

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. (Mandarin, colloquial) to bend
      ―  máoyāo  ―  to bend over; to stoop
Synonyms
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Etymology 3

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trad.
simp.

Borrowed from English modem.

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. (Mainland China, colloquial) modem

Compounds

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Etymology 4

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trad.
simp.
alternative forms

Pronunciation

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Definitions

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  1. (Hokkien) wildcat
  2. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) vicious woman; woman that suddenly turns hostile (just like a mother cat when her kittens are threatened)

Compounds

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References

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Japanese

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Kanji

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(Hyōgai kanji)

Readings

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Noun

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(ねこ) or (ネコ) (neko (counter )

  1. Alternative form of (cat)

Korean

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Hanja

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(eumhun 고양이 (goyang'i myo))

  1. cat

Vietnamese

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Han character

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: Hán Việt readings: miêu ((mi)(tiêu)(thiết))[1][2][3]
: Nôm readings: mèo[1][2], miêu[4]

  1. chữ Hán form of miêu (cat).
  2. Nôm form of mèo (cat).

References

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  NODES
Done 1
see 2